Apparatus for feeding blanks from a hopper



Dec. 19, 19 3- B. SCHWEICKARDT APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BLANKS FROM A HOPPER Filed Nov. 29, 1929 or not. The tube a is circular on the insidev Patented Dec. 19, 1933 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BLANKS FROM A HOPPER Berthold Schweickardt, Stuttgart, Germany Application November 29, 1929, Serial No. 410,593, and in Germany March 9, 1929 3 Claims. (Cl. 51215) My invention relates to a method of and apparatus for coaxially adjusting substantially cylindrical blanks including discs, rings, nuts,

, etc., which are to be fed to or between tools, for instance grinding wheels.

According to the present invention I cause one after the other of a stationary body of such blanks, which are aggregated in irregular positions, to drop into a tube of slightly greater diameter than said blanks, which is kept rotating, preferably at high speed, so that the blanks are subjected in this tube to centrifugal action about the axis of the tube, which causes them,

, no matter in what relative position they may have entered the tube, to adjust themselves substantially coaxially in a row with their fiat sides adjoining each other.

In the drawing affixed to this specification and forming part thereof two types of apparatus embodying my invention are illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a hopper having a straight supply pipe, while Fig. 2 is a partly sectional elevation of a grinding machine having a flexible supply pipe with a vertical and a horizontal reach, and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III in ,Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing and first to Fig. 1, a is a straight tubular tube to which rotation is imparted by suitable means, for instance a pulley h and a belt 1'. b is a supply ,hopper, c is an arm at the end of the tube a which projects into the hopper b through an opening in its front end, and k are the blanks. The blanks are here shown as rings but may be of any other suitable shape and may be solid "and its inside diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the blanks which are aligned in the tube. The blanks are supplied to the hopper in irregular arrangement, as illustrated, and

. are agitated by the arm 0. When they arrive in the tube a, they are engaged by friction and rotated, and when they have attained a certain velocity, they will assume a position at right angles to the tube a and become aligned in the ..tube like a string, as shown in Fig. 1. The bot- "tom of the hopper b may be inclined, the end of the tube may taper. 1

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, a vertical tube d is arranged below the hopper b, with an .arm c projecting into the hopper as described "above, a curved flexible tube g, adjoining tube d and connecting it with a horizontal tube e. Alternatively a single flexible tube may replace the parts d, g, e or only the horizontal and vertical tubes e, :1 may rotate, while the curved tube g is stationary.

h is the pulley for imparting rotation to the horizontal'tube e, which is supported in ball bearings Z, and m is a pulley for imparting rotation to the vertical tube d which is supported in ball bearings o. I is a lay shaft to which rotation is imparted by a belt 10 and a pulley q, r and s are pulleys at the ends of the tube from which the belt 2 extends to the pulley h, as described, and a belt n extends to the pulley m, respectively. Here the tube 0 is integral with the tubes d and e and therefore flexible.

It is to be understood that I am not limited to the vertical position of the tube (1 and to the horizontal position of the tube e, as both tubes, or one of them, may be arranged with its or one of their intersecting axes at an angle to the horizontal or to the vertical without departing from my invention.

In the case of a flexible tube 9 Imay provide a single pulley only for rotating the tube.

The vertical arrangement of the upper tube d, as shown, is particularly efficient in that it assists in the feeding of the blanks k and in that the weight of the blanks in the vertical and curved tubes exerts thrust on the blanks in the horizontal tube;

The blanks discharged from the horizontal tube may be delivered to a tooling station of any suitable kind, for instance to a pair of grinding wheels t and u (Fig. 2).

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the claims affixed to this specification no selection of any particular modification of the invention is intendedto the exclusion of other modifications thereof and the right to subsequently make claim to any modification not covered by these claims is expressly reserved.

1. An apparatus for coaxially adjusting substantially cylindrical blanks comprising a stationary feeding means, an adjusting tube of slightly greater diameter than said blanks adjoining the discharge opening of said feeding means, an arm on said tube extending into said feeding means and means for rotating said tube and arm relative to said feeding means.

2. An apparatus for coaxially adjusting substantially cylindrical blanks comprising two tubes disposed with their axes intersecting each other, guiding means between and connecting 5 said tubes, a stationary feeding means at one end of one tube and means for rotating this latter tube relative to said feeding means. 

